An Immortal Whisper
by margravinel
Summary: Nathan and Haley were high school sweethearts, meeting junior year and marrying shortly after. 6 years later, whilst celebrating their anniversary, tragedy strikes, but is death truly the end? Based on 'Ghost' NALEY
1. Chapter 1

Haley paced back and forth across the living room floor anxiously, the cordless phone held close to her ear as she listened intently to the slow, agonising rings. Finally, the phone connected and Haley exhaled slowly, heaving a huge sigh of relief as she stopped mid stride to listen to Nathan as his voice came onto the line.

"You've reached Nathan Scott, sorry I'm not available right now…"

Haley tensed at the sound of Nathan's voicemail message and felt her breath catch in her throat at the sudden sense of worry that flooded over her. _Where the hell was he? _Haley thought as she started pacing the floor once again whilst waiting for the sound of the beep. As Haley continued to pace impatiently, across the room she glanced uneasily towards the wall clock. On noting the time to be half past eight, Haley frustratingly disconnected the call and threw the handset onto the sofa, before turning to look at herself in the mirror.

For a moment, Haley stood assessing her appearance, brushing a stray piece of hair away from her eyes and tucking it safely behind her ear. Slowly, Haley smoothed out the front of her turquoise dress with her hands, turning slightly to admire how it hugged her closely in all the right places and looking over her shoulder into the mirror to admire the intricate detail on the back.

The dress had been an anniversary present from Brooke, who'd chosen to make it for Haley after she had pointed out a similar one on a recent outing to the local mall. Haley had been looking for something nice to wear for her upcoming wedding anniversary and had instantly fallen in love with the dress, however, as usual, money was tight and she had been unable to afford it. Instead Haley had settled on a tasteful black cocktail dress but Brooke knew that deep down her friend was disappointed.

So that same evening Brooke had returned home and to Haley's surprise, made her friend the dress of her dreams. Although, Brooke had replicated the dress to some extent, she'd also used her talents as a designer to add her own mark. The end result had stunned Haley, surpassing the beauty of the initial dress in leaps and bounds.

As she admired Brooke's work in the mirror before her, Haley couldn't help but sigh heavily in disappointment. The time on the clock had read half past eight when Haley had last looked and Nathan was supposed to be back from playing basketball with Lucas hours ago. Slowly Haley ran a hand through her long blonde hair, scratching her head slightly as she wondered what could possibly be keeping him.

When they discussed their anniversary plans the previous week, Haley had been more than happy for the pair of them to remain home and share an intimate evening together alone, especially with their recent financial problems. However, Nathan had insisted that they go out for a romantic meal, pointing out that six years of happy marriage was definitely something to celebrate.

At the fresh wave of worry that flooded over her, Haley suddenly turned and made her way back across the room to the sofa. Carefully, she bent down and lifted the phone from where it had landed upon the cushions. Quickly, Haley hit redial, holding the phone once again up to her ear and chewing nervously on the fingernails of her free hand as she listened into the receiver.

As she listened, Haley heard a soft knock on the door of her apartment and frowned in confusion. _Who could this be? _She thought anxiously, remembering that Nathan had taken his keys with him when he'd met Lucas earlier.

Suddenly, fear enveloped Haley and her chest constricted painfully at the sudden thought which crossed her mind. _What if it's the police?_ Haley thought apprehensively. _Maybe there was an accident? _

Hurriedly, Haley disconnected the call and threw the phone once again onto the sofa as she ran towards the door and flung it open quickly. Haley froze as her eyes came into contact with the tall figure standing, back towards her on the other side of the door.

Slowly the figure turned around, a huge smile gracing his face as his eyes fell upon Haley and roamed every inch of her body. On seeing his familiar features before her, Haley realised she'd been holding her breath and exhaled forcefully.

Standing on the other side of the door was Nathan wearing a black tuxedo and brandishing a bouquet of small purple flowers. Behind Nathan, Haley could make out the long slender form of a black limousine and looked at her husband in surprise.

"Nathan?" Haley said stunned as she met his loving gaze.

"Sorry I'm late," Nathan, said apologetically holding out the flowers for Haley.

Haley took the bouquet from Nathan and held them to her nose for a moment, taking in their memorable scent.

"They're beautiful," Haley, said a broad grin spreading across her face as she glanced back up at Nathan.

"They're nothing compared to you," Nathan said taking Haley's hand in his own and kissing it lightly. "You look amazing."

Haley felt herself blush slightly at Nathan's words. Although they'd been married for three years, the effect Nathan could have on her still surprised Haley.

Nathan leant forward slowly when he noticed the sudden increase in circulation, which had found it's way to Haley's cheeks and kissed her deeply on the lips. Haley returned the gesture lovingly, wrapping both her arms and the flowers around Nathan's neck as he pulled her closer to him, placing his hands firmly on her hips.

When their lips finally parted, the remained in each other embrace staring into each other's eyes. After a moment, Nathan kissed Haley softly on the forehead and spoke.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes with his hand.

"Sure," Haley said reluctantly manoeuvring herself out of Nathan's warm embrace and disappearing inside the apartment for a moment to collect her purse.

A minute later, Haley emerged before Nathan once again and closed the apartment door firmly behind her. Nathan smiled at her as she stood before him and placed her purse over her shoulder.

When she'd finished Nathan held out his arm for her and Haley took it willingly, leaning her head gently onto his shoulder as Nathan led her towards where the limousine was parked. As they neared the sleek machine, Haley glanced up at Nathan who was watching her affectionately.

"So where are we going?" Haley asked squeezing his arm slightly.

"It's a surprise." Nathan teased playfully as the chauffeur opened the limousine door for Nathan and Haley.

Nathan waited for a moment as Haley carefully made her way inside the car before following after her.

Once they were seated, the chauffeur closed the door firmly behind them and made his way upfront. Inside, Nathan sat close beside Haley, reaching for her hand with his own as she gazed in awe around the leather interior of the car.

"Nathan," Haley said quietly, finally turning her attention to face him. "This is beautiful…but…how did you afford this?"

"I had a little help from a friend," Nathan said winking mischievously at Haley whilst she continued to look at him questioningly. "

"Who?" Haley asked watching Nathan as he reached into his jacket pocket with his free hand and pulled out a small envelope.

Nathan removed some small cards from the envelope in his hands and a sudden sense of déjà vu came over Haley as realisation struck.

"Brooke?" Haley asked disbelievingly.

"She's footing the bill for the entire evening," Nathan said nodding as he glanced momentarily up at his wife and felt the car begin to move forward. "It's her anniversary gift to me."

Haley laughed to herself as she remembered the memory of her and Nathan's first date. Brooke and Haley had not been friends at the time but the brunette had felt bad about sabotaging their relationship and in an attempt to fix her karma had organised a date for her with Nathan.

Although she'd been unsure whether to go initially, Haley had soon been swayed when Nathan had appeared at the café bearing cue cards containing instructions of what they would do on their date.

Slowly, Haley leaned over Nathan in an attempt to get a look at what this new set of cue cards instructed. However, on seeing her do this, Nathan quickly pulled them out of her vision.

"You're not going to tell me what Brooke's written?" Haley asked puzzled.

"No," Nathan said kissing Haley gently on the lips. "Because Brooke didn't write these."

"She didn't?" Haley asked looking at Nathan questioningly.

"No," Nathan said returning the cards to his jacket pocket. "I did."

"Intriguing," Haley said playfully, watching Nathan closely as he removed a small box from the same pocket he'd just deposited the cards.

"Happy Anniversary," Nathan said holding the box open in front of Haley.

"Nathan," Haley exclaimed lost for words as she reached into the box and removed a gorgeous silver necklace with a piano keys pendant on the end. "I love it."

"You do?" Nathan asked placing the box on the seat beside him and taking the necklace from Haley.

Haley turned in her seat and held her hair out of the way so that Nathan could place the necklace around her neck.

Once the pendant was in position, Haley turned back around to face Nathan fingering the silver piano keys lightly.

"I really do," Haley answered, reaching up and kissing Nathan affectionately on the lips for a moment. "Thank you." Haley said as they separated.

"I love you," Nathan said leaning forward and kissing his wife again.

At the touch of Nathan's lips on her own, Haley reached forward and once again wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss and running one hand through the hair at the nape of his neck. At this Nathan gently rubbed the small of her back comfortingly with one hand whilst the other stroked the side of her face gently.

Suddenly, the limousine came to a steady halt and Nathan pulled away reluctantly.

"We're here," Nathan said placing his hand on the side of Haley's neck and smiling.

To his left, Nathan heard as the chauffeur opened the limousine door and once it was completely ajar, Nathan stepped outside, one hand holding onto Haley's tightly as he helped her into the warm night outside.


	2. Chapter 2

With her hand still enveloped in Nathan's, Haley slowly climbed out of the limousine, straightening slowly beside her husband as she felt the warm breeze brush gently against her exposed skin. Once she was standing clear of the sleek black vehicle, the chauffeur gently closed the door from which she'd just exited and returned to his own position behind the wheel.

Haley watched him for a moment until he'd disappeared out of sight before finally glancing around at the scene before her. At first glance at her surroundings a look of confusion spread across Haley's face and she turned questioningly towards Nathan, who was watching her amusedly.

"Nathan?" Haley asked puzzled. "What are we doing here?"

"You'll see," he said, squeezing her hand slightly and pulling her gently after him.

"Where are we going?" Haley asked him slightly confused.

"Just wait," Nathan said teasingly as he led her around the corner.

Haley followed, curiosity growing with every step that she took, until suddenly she realised where Nathan was taking her.

"Are you serious?" Haley asked, a luminous smile spreading across her face as Nathan paused in front of the familiar lingerie store.

"Of course," Nathan answered stepping in front of Haley and taking her other hand in his remaining one. "I wanted to do something special for you."

Nathan paused momentarily to glance down at the floor between the pair of them before once again meeting Haley's gaze.

"I know things have been difficult for us lately, Hales." Nathan continued squeezing both her hands affectionately in his own. "Money's been tight and we've both been working so hard that we haven't really had as much time together as we'd like. I just wanted tonight to be perfect for you…for us to spend an evening together remembering how we got to where we are today."

If possible Haley's smile grew even more at Nathan words and she leant forward, pushing herself up onto her toes to kiss him softly on the lips.

"So you're recreating our first date?" Haley asked wistfully.

"Kind of," Nathan said giving her a knowing look. "Just…with a twist I guess."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Haley questioned laughing at Nathan's evasiveness.

"That," Nathan said taking a step towards Haley and wrapping his arms around her waist before kissing her affectionately. "Is just… something you'll have… to wait for?" He continued planting quick kisses on her smooth lips every so often as he spoke.

"Spoil sport," Haley teased playfully as Nathan turned once more and made his way towards the store.

As he reached the door, Nathan paused for a moment to hold it open for Haley. Haley smiled broadly at him as she made her way inside the building and Nathan took a moment to admire the view of his wife before following after her. Once inside, Nathan let the door close slowly behind him and reached into his pocket to remove the set of cue cards that Haley had seen earlier.

Nathan removed one carefully from the envelope and handed it to Haley.

Haley frowned at it for a moment before reading the instruction typed neatly on it.

_Find the gifts we exchanged on our first date_

After reading the note, Haley glanced up at Nathan who was watching her eagerly awaiting her response.

"The exact gifts?" Haley asked brandishing the card animatedly. "How do you know they still sell them?"

Nathan laughed to himself before answering.

"I checked," Nathan responded still laughing. "Why are you worried that you won't remember?"

"No," Haley said elongating the word for emphasis. "I just didn't know that our anniversary would entail so much work on my part, that's all."

As she said this Haley winked playfully at Nathan who placed his hands inside his trouser pockets and rocked back onto his heels.

"Trust me," he said teasingly. "It'll be worth it."

Haley raised her eyebrow at him quizzically as he continued rocking back and forth on his heel. As his feet made complete contact with the ground once more, Nathan pulled his hands out of his pockets and looked pointedly at the watch on his left wrist.

"If we want to get to the next place on time, you should probably start looking," Nathan taunted, whistling dramatically. "We haven't got long."

"Ok," Haley said confidently as she quickly began to search through the racks. "It'll only take me a minute…just…make yourself pretty or something."

Nathan feigned insult for a moment before asking, "You don't think I'm pretty?"

"You're all right I guess," Haley mocked as she continued searching around the store. "I've seen better."

"Careful," Nathan joked. "Otherwise I decide to change my mind about giving you your next present."

"There are more gifts?" Haley asked excitedly glancing up at Nathan and clapping her hands.

"Only if you're nice to me," Nathan teased her smiling.

"Have I ever mentioned how attractive I find you?" Haley asked quickly, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"Not that I can remember," Nathan answered playfully.

"Well I do," Haley, said matter of factly as she began looking through the rails once more.

Nathan watched as Haley finally came across the item he'd purchased for her on their first date.

"Aha!" Haley said pulling it off the rail and holding it up in front of Nathan.

"Great," Nathan said laughing. "Now all you have to do is find the gift you brought me."

Haley turned quickly to the shelf behind her and pulled off a pair of black socks, which she wasted no time triumphantly waving in front of Nathan.

"You know," she said teasingly. "You could have at least made this a little more challenging."

"I could have," Nathan mused. "But we only have one night."

At Nathan's comment, Haley hit him playfully on the arm.

"Ouch," Nathan said mocking injury and laughing.

"Ok," Haley said holding the items up in front of him. "Now what?"

"There's a card inside the lingerie in your hand." Nathan said. "Read it."

Haley did as she was instructed and found another cue card with a different instruction printed on it.

_Purchase these at the cashier and exchange the card for a clue to your other present_

"Intriguing," Haley pondered as she made her way over to the cashier. "But do we really need to buy these? We haven't got the money."

"Oh no," Nathan said placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Tonight, there will be no worrying about money…we're going to enjoy ourselves…besides…you can never have too many socks."

Haley laughed as she handed the items over to the cashier and Nathan pulled out his wallet. The cashier rang up the items and placed them into a bag, which she handed to Haley as Nathan paid.

As Nathan was placing his wallet back inside his jacket pocket, Haley handed the cashier the instruction card. The cashier smiled broadly at Haley, before reaching behind the counter and retrieving the clue that Nathan had dropped off earlier today.

Slowly the cashier slid the book across the counter towards Haley, who frowned at it questioningly before looking at Nathan who was watching the exchange closely.

"Romeo and Juliet?" Haley asked puzzled. "That's the clue."

"Not exactly," Nathan answered as Haley placed the book into the bag containing their purchased items. "Don't worry though, there's more to come. Everything will make sense then."

"You know," Haley said sweetly. "You could just tell me what my next present is?"

"Yeah but where's the fun in that?" Nathan responded tauntingly wrapping an arm around Haley's shoulders and leading her towards the door.

"So you're not going to tell me?" Haley said playfully, pouting in defeat.

"Nope," Nathan said simply as they stepped out of the shop and into the night. "But…I will take you to the next clue."

"Deal," Haley said quickly as she reached up and kissed him before leaning into his side and resting her head on his shoulder.

Nathan leant his head down on top of hers and smiled to himself.

"And you wanted me to make this more challenging," Nathan teased, pulling her in closer to his side.

"Shut up," Haley said laughing light-heartedly as Nathan led her towards their next destination.


End file.
